Free Spaces
Free Spaces
HomePage
Overview
"Free Spaces" sketches a new and transformative image of four major cities in Eastern Europe. In te post-communist urban settings of Tbilisi (Georgia), Yerevan (Armenia), Chișinău (Moldova) and Kiev (Ukraine), Ina Ivanceanu follows artists and activists as they reclaim public spaces and assert their freedom of expression. Occupying a cinema, reviving an old Soviet circus, converting a grim metro passage into a glamorous arena, and repurposing a defunct factory building into a cultural agora. By seizing and creatively transforming public spaces characterized by an abondoned past, today's new generation explores democratic means and freedom while also confronting pervasive neoliberal structures in their respective societies.
Release Date
2015-04-15
Average
0
Rating:
0.0 startsTagline
Documantary
Genres
Languages:
Keywords
Similar Movies

Ottoman Empire: The War Machine(en)
This History Channel documentary traces the Ottoman Empire from its beginnings in the 14th century to its incarnation as one of the largest empires in history, spanning three continents.
The Future of Cities(en)
This is a conversation starter first, a video second.

Belarus: An Ordinary Dictatorship(fr)
It’s the last dictatorship of Europe, caught in a Soviet time-warp, where the secret police is still called the KGB and the president rules by fear. Disappearances, political assassinations, waves of repression and mass arrests are all regular occurances. But while half of Belarus moves closer to Russia, the other half is trying to resist…

Tales of a Toy Horse(uk)
In his own way, Anatoli Ljutuk is a legend of Tallinn's Old Town - a man from Western Ukraine who has built a unique world on Laboratory Street, the main core of which is the Ukrainian Cultural Center and Church. There, he engages in calligraphy, makes paper in a medieval way, carves traditional wooden toys in his workshop and makes books in the spirit of old monasteries. According to the oath taken a quarter of a century ago, he has promised to create something good every day. His daily commitment is challenged by the war that broke out in Ukraine, which Anatoly cannot passively ignore.

Askania Reserve(uk)
Askania-Nova is the largest steppe wildlife sanctuary in Europe. It is located in south part of Ukraine, not far from Crimea peninsula. In order to underline this unique beauty we created a documentary musical film about life of animals and people in wildlife sanctuary of Askania-Nova. The movie reveals stories of a three protagonists, whose destinies were entangled because of wildlife sanctuary.

Nothing Lasts Forever: Russian Punks in Georgia(en)
Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, many in Russia's DIY punk scene fled to Tbilisi, Georgia. Mobilization only exacerbated that trend. This documentary follows the stories of some of those punks but also explores the complicated socio-economic effects they have on the city. The film is about the potential for punk and other similar subcultures to make connections even across otherwise tense political borders.

Mariupolis 2(ru)
In 2022, Mantas Kvedaravičius went back to Ukraine, Mariupol, at the heart of the war, to be with the people he had met and filmed in 2015. Following his death, his producers and collaborators have put all their strength into continuing transmitting his work, his vision and his films. Also a PhD in anthropology, Mantas Kvedaravičius wished to testify as a filmmaker as far as possible from the agitation of the media and the politicians. With huge force and sensitivity, Mariupolis 2 depicts life as it continues amidst the bombing and reveals images that convey both tragedy and hope.

Babi Yar. Context(ru)
Nazi troops massacre 30,000 Jews over a three-day period in September 1941. Babyn Yar ravine in Kyiv, Ukraine.

St. Michael's Golden-domed Monastery. 900 years(uk)
Against the backdrop of historical events, from the time of Kyivan Rus' until the arrival of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in Ukraine, the film deals with the history of the construction, flourishing, destruction and revival of the Mykhailivskyi Golden-Domed Monastery over 900 years, as well as the difficult history of the struggle for independence of Ukraine. the church that continues to this day.

Together We Cycle(en)
The film Together we cycle investigates the critical events that has led to the revival of the Dutch cycling culture. For most people, cycling in the Netherlands, seems a natural phenomenon. However, until the 1970s the development of mobility in the Netherlands followed trents across the globe. The bicycle had had its day, and the future belonged to the car. The only thing that had to be done was to adapt cities to the influx of cars. Then Dutch society took a different turn. Against all odds people kept on cycling. The question why this happened in the Netherlands, has not an easy answer. There are many factors, events and circumstances that worked together, both socially and policy-wise. In Together we cycle, key players tell the story of the bumpy road which led to the current state. Where cycling is an obvious choice for most citizens.

Ballroom King(uk)
The film tells the stories of three protagonists, which are intertwined in one story about the Master: a rural school pupil who dreams of ballroom dancing – Makar, world champion in ballroom dancing – Alex Ivanets, and his first teacher – Petro Horhol, who lives in a small Ukrainian town of Poltava.

Mustache Funk(uk)
The early 70s is a golden epoch of our popular music. Hundreds of songs of exquisite beauty. Groundbreaking sound. Futuristic suits. How and whence could all of this emerge in a Soviet socialist republic? How did a brand new music scene, original in sound and philosophy in every way, and at the same time absolutely in sync with global music trends come forth? They weren't that fond of the Soviet label «VIA». And since neither of us is fond of this acronym, let us rechristen this music.

Fading City(uk)
A docu-art film about Kyiv and the contemporary problems of the capital. The film raises the issue of the dilapidated state of Kyiv's old buildings and the search for effective mechanisms to preserve the city's architectural heritage.

Checkpoint Zoo(en)
Checkpoint Zoo documents a daring rescue led by a heroic team of zookeepers and volunteers, who risked their lives to save thousands of animals trapped in a zoo behind enemy lines in the Russian Invasion of Ukraine.

Slums: Cities of Tomorrow(en)
One billion people on our planet—one in six—live in shantytowns, slums or squats. Slums: Cities of Tomorrow challenges conventional thinking to propose that slums are in fact the solution, not the problem, to urban overcrowding caused by the massive migration of people to cities. (Lynne Fernie, HotDocs)

Ukraine : la fin du monde russe ?(fr)
By invading this "state fiction" that is, according to him, Ukraine, Vladimir Putin takes up the motto of the tsars: "sovereign of all Russia, the great, the small and the white". The first would have Moscow as its capital, the second, kyiv, and the last, Minsk.

The Living(uk)
Tells the story of the tragic events in Ukraine in 1932-33, the genocidal Great Famine or the Holodomor, and one Welshman's attempts to tell the world what was happening.

The Gas Weapon(sv)
Analysis of the impact of natural gas - more specifically, the Ukrainian and European dependence on Russian gas - on European politics in the wake of Euromaidan. Featuring interviews with high-level government officials, journalists and industry analysts from several countries, the film argues that a generation after its break from the USSR, Ukraine is independent in name only. To bring the country to its knees, all Russia has to do to is turn off the gas, as it did briefly in the winters of 2005 and 2009.
Hard Work and "Whatever"(en)
This Ukrainian-Jewish teenager immigrated to San Francisco as a young child. Now on the brink of adulthood, she interviews her grandparents about their new lives yearning to see her American world through their eyes. Yelena understands that life in the US has changed her profoundly.
Through Immigrants' Eyes(en)
This Ukrainian-Jewish teenager immigrated to San Francisco as a young child. Now on the brink of adulthood, she interviews her grandparents about their new lives yearning to see her American world through their eyes. Yelena understands that life in the US has changed her profoundly.